The Clever Explorer’s Activity Book is now available on Amazon!

This creative activity book contains puzzles, games, coloring pages and craft tutorials, combined with a huge treasury of general knowledge.

I crafted this book very carefully, through a lot of thought and research. The result was exactly what I wanted: A visually appealing book, with fun activities, clean and lovable illustrations, easy to read segments and a varied selection of general knowledge topics.

Childhood secret: knowing without learning

I was raised on piles of National Geographic issues. I had subscriptions to numerous nature magazines for kids, and the bookcase in our house stored every volume of the most beautiful encyclopedia ever (the legendary Knowledge Encyclopedia).

My dad was a fan of nature documentaries and he took us to see the outdoors every Saturday. He made up riddles, making us guess which animal he was thinking of by giving hints of its features.
I think I was the only first grader who knew what a pangolin was.

You could say that my dad taught me a lot, but to me it never felt like teaching. I was just absorbing whatever was around me, the way I would absorb information about stoplights, cats or carrot soups.

Only later I noticed that the knowledge I gained empowered me. You know how good it feels to understand what other people talk about, and to be able to contribute to a fascinating conversation? It really does wonders to a child’s self esteem.

Years after, while travelling with my husband (a nature lover and aspiring photographer) and talking about what we see he asked me, “how do you know all these things?”
I wasn’t trying to impress him, but it felt pretty good to realize that I did!

During my work in a magazine for kids I loved writing general knowledge articles. I didn’t have to search far for ideas. The back of my mind had lists of subjects to choose from.

When I entered the world of self-publishing I knew I was going to make The Clever Explorer’s Activity book. I didn’t think of it as an educational activity book, just as an a very fun and intriguing way to mix games with interesting general knowledge.

My past experience led to some theories and I decided to apply them in this book.

5 theories applied in The Clever Explorer’s Activity Book

1. The best way to learn is through personal experience.

When we experience things, we don’t need to memorize them. They enter our mind naturally.
The information that appears in this activity book is weaved into challenging games and puzzles, making it part of the player’s walking trail.

2. We are interested in things that evoke our emotions.

I wrote the general knowledge segments as I would write stories. They will make you excited, amused and sometimes even spooked!

3. We care about information that is relevant to us.

If it applies to us and to what we do, we care about it. The activities in this book are designed to bring the reader into the story, to rely on the associated facts and to enter the settings in which the story takes place.

4. Kids should be presented with options.

Just like my dad introduced me to different topics without really pushing me towards a specific one, I wanted to introduce children to many options and let them explore on their own.
That’s why I chose varied topics for my book: history, science, art, nature and others. I provided a small (yet delicious) bite of each. The goal of this activity book is not to make children experts on a specific topic. For start, I want them to browse. It’s a buffet where kids can try, taste and see what they like.

5. “Have to” belongs in the garbage bin.

Lord, how I hate the words “have to”. No reader of mine will have to do anything. We are here to be free and enjoy our lives the way we choose, no matter if we are 4, 8 or 32 years old.
Therefor, reading the segments in the book is not mandatory. You can enjoy the games and activities either way. Some kids don’t want to read even the shortest paragraph and that’s fine, the book will still be great for them. They might be intrigued to read the lines after they play the games, or even read the text without playing at all. It’s their book, their time and their choice.

↑ I read about Koko the gorilla in a National Geographic issue from ’85. A talking Gorilla who loves cats, how cool is that?

↑ With their treasures and curses the pyramids of Egypt were dangerous to explorers, as they are to you in this tricky maze!

Where can you get this activity book?

Just like my empowering coloring book for girls, The Clever Explorer’s Activity Book is available on numerous online stores.
The most popular is Amazon. Click to get it:

► Amazon.com

► Amazon UK